1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to video gaming, visual aspects of video game displays, formatting of video games, new methods and apparatus for providing interchangeable formatting for different games, methods and apparatus for providing ease of reconfiguring thematic changes in a video game with reduced reprogramming needs, and novel sensory features associated with video games and video game apparatus.
2. Background of the Art
Video gaming is a form of entertainment involving the display of the format of a game on a video screen (presently on a cathode ray tube or monitor, liquid crystal display screen or any other visually observable image presenting system) and the interaction of a player(s) with data flow displayed on a screen. The player(s) may place wagers on the outcome of various statistically driven games which are displayed on the screen. Originally, the mechanical forerunners of video games were primarily limited to games having symbols displayed on reels, each symbol occupying a frame on the wheel, and the wheels being spun and then stopped to display a line of symbols (usually three symbols in a single row). Payouts were provided for certain specific symbol combinations on the payout line. Certain symbols became traditional on mechanical gaming machines (e.g., slot machines) such as the number xe2x80x9c7,xe2x80x9d cherries, bells, oranges, lemons, plums, etc. Over time, less traditional symbols were added to give the game a different visual appearance, but the play of the reel oriented slot machine game remained essentially the same.
When video gaming was first introduced to the gaming world, the first video games were electronic imitations of the traditional slot machines, even using the same symbols, and the same physical formats (e.g., a handle to initiate play), assuring that the transition from mechanical to electronic formats would meet the least resistance. As electronic gaming became more accepted, both the formats (e.g., buttons versus handles) and the game content (e.g., poker games, dominoes, keno, blackjack, Bingo, Pai Gow poker, etc.) were changed and expanded. The format of play within the electronic or virtual reel games has also progressed from the early duplications of the mechanical reels on a visual screen. The flexibility afforded the games by the use of computers, printed circuit boards, virtual images, and the high information density and volumes that can be used with electronic media, has enabled essentially unlimited formatting and image capability in the equipment. However, even with this potential, very little has been done with virtual reel games. The most notable product introductions in the virtual reel industry have included multiple payout lines on the displayed reels (e.g., payouts allowed on three rows when three tokens are played), multiple payout formats (e.g., payouts in rows, columns, diagonals, and/or patterns), and the imagery of the frames (e.g., different symbols, different themes for the symbols, and even animated movement within the frames of the symbols).
The various changes that have been and may be made in the virtual reel video systems may be characterized within three types of change classes: 1) changes that affect the probability of the awards; 2) changes that affect the fundamental nature of the game; and 3) changes that provide an entertainment or aesthetic variation to the game. Examples of changes that would affect the probability of awards would include, for example, selecting the total number of symbols within any reel or reels, selecting the number of any specific symbol within a reel or reels, selecting the number of lines or patterns for which there will be payouts, and the like. Examples of changes that would affect the fundamental nature of the game include, for example, the ability to retain a symbol on one or more reels from a first play and then re-spin remaining reel(s), the ability of a machine or player to xe2x80x98nudgexe2x80x99 a frame within one reel to a more favorable position, and the like. Examples of changes that would provide an entertainment or aesthetic variation to the game would include, for example, variations in artwork in the frames, variations in themes in the frames or in the background of the frames, and the like. Some of the more striking artwork renditions now include, for example, animation, such as faces on the symbols which alter their orientation (e.g., turn within the frame and look at another character), alter their expression (e.g., smile or frown or laugh), or otherwise provide a different image within the frame.
In a majority of video gaming devices, however, the imagery generally is still provided by reels (virtual or actual) that give the appearance of rotating in place, with the reels providing for entire columns, entire rows, or individual frames. It is always desirable within an entertainment field, such as video gaming, to be able to provide variations in the play and appearance of games to attract and maintain players.
The apparatus used for video gaming normally comprises:
a reel mounted for rotation about an axis through a predetermined number of radial positions;
a motivation system to start rotation of said reel about said axis;
indicia fixed to the reel to indicate the angular rotational position of the reel;
various angular rotational positions of said reel having assigned thereto symbols, characters, or alphanumerics. There is usually a plurality of such said plurality of symbols exceeding said predetermined number of radial positions such that some rotational positions are represented by a plurality of symbols, characters, or alphanumerics assigned to each reel and even to each position on a virtual reel of the apparatus;
the apparatus randomly selects one of the plurality of assigned symbols, characters, or alphanumerics; and
the apparatus stops the reel at the angular position represented by a selected symbol(s), character(s), or alphanumeric(s).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,681 describes a slot machine is provided which has a winning probability table for storing a relation between a group of symbols and random numbers, the group being one of a plurality of groups made up by classifying prize-winning symbols. The range of random numbers is properly fixed so that the winning probability is determined. Prior to the start of a game, one of the random numbers is sampled from a plurality of random numbers. The decisions on whether there is a win or not, and on which group the sampled random number belongs to if there is a win, are made with reference to the winning probability table. A hit request signal is generated for the latter decision. The hits are of different sizes, that is to say that different hits pay different numbers of wins. The larger the hit, the fewer random numbers correspond to it. The stopping series of symbols is controlled in accordance with the hit request signal. The patent also describes the use of xe2x80x9cA sound generator 55 drives a loudspeaker 56 to generate a sound therefrom after a suitable time lapse from the start of a game, so that playing the game becomes more interesting.xe2x80x9d There is no specific disclosure of any relevance of the sound to functions of the apparatus.
There is also a desire in the industry to enable usage of gaming apparatus by all portions of society, including the visually impaired, while providing significant entertainment for all players in what is clearly a highly visual format.
A number of factors have contributed to the popularity of video wagering games. Gaming establishments have expanded the variety of games offered on video platforms beyond what was once limited to video poker, video keno and video reel slot machines. Many casino table games such as blackjack, draw poker, stud poker, Let It Ride(copyright) stud poker and Caribbean Stud Poker(copyright) are available on video. These games can be learned on video machines before advancing to the more intimidating live table game environment. With video wagering, novice players can enjoy playing a wide variety of casino games without having to play at a table with other more experienced players who may create an intimidating environment for the novice. Players of video games need not worry about playing too slowly to suit the dealer or other players or about feeling embarrassed by making a particular strategic decision.
Video wagering games often are capable of paying a progressive jackpot if the player achieves a predetermined winning outcome, which offers the anticipation or hope for a very large award. For the above reasons, the video wagering format is growing at a pace which exceeds the growth of play of live casino table games and other types of live wagering.
Some video games which are adapted for play on a home computer have a xe2x80x9csecond screenxe2x80x9d feature. That is, if the player wins a certain number of games, or achieves a predetermined skill level in a game, a second screen will appear which either permits the player to play the same game at a higher skill level or allows the player to engage in a special feature of that game (e.g., collect additional game pieces or xe2x80x98livesxe2x80x99 in Mario Brothers(copyright)). In the case of video wagering, there are also a number of recently introduced video wagering games which provide an opportunity to first play an underlying or principal video wagering game (e.g., draw poker) and then to play a different wagering game, although on the same video screen format as the poker game (e.g., as with xe2x80x9cdouble downxe2x80x9d games described herein).
A video wagering game with a xe2x80x9csecond screenxe2x80x9d feature is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/820,438, filed Mar. 12, 1997 for a xe2x80x9cMethod of Scoring a Video Wagering Game,xe2x80x9d now U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,711, issued Jan. 30, 2001, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference thereto.
For example, some video poker games offer a double-or-nothing feature. If a player has a winning hand in the first segment of the game, the player can optionally risk the amount won by trying to determine whether a given card will be higher or lower than 8. Alternatively the player may have to choose one of four cards in an attempt to get a card higher than one already shown. If the player wins, his original bet is doubled. He may continue to xe2x80x9cdouble upxe2x80x9d until he reaches some predetermined limit, or loses. However, if he loses, he loses the winnings from the first game. This xe2x80x9cdouble upxe2x80x9d game is played on substantially the identically formatted screen (showing five playing cards, but with the possible addition to that screen of alphanumerics, as later described) as is the underlying poker game. The principal game, the poker game, is played to obtain an award, and only that award allows winnings from that single game to be xe2x80x9cdoubled up.xe2x80x9d There also exist video wagering games that have a video slot segment and at least one additional video wagering segment. Additionally, there are known second, that is, alternative screen games in which the winnings from the second screen game are unrelated to and independent of the winnings in the first screen game.
Slot machines are gaming devices which originally incorporated a plurality of reels rotatable about a common axis and on which are carried at the periphery a plurality of indicia indicating the position each reel stops. Usually the reels are set into motion by pulling a lever and upon stopping, the angular positions of the reels are detected to determine the amount of payoff to the player. With physical reels, buttons may now be used to initiate and stop spinning of the reels to reduce stress on the arms of players. The gaming devices can also be programmed to automatically spin upon placing a wager, and automatically stop, without the player having to manipulate player controls.
In the original mechanical machines the reels were stopped by actuating a brake or a tripping arm/pin which moved into grooves (cutouts) in each reel""s index wheel on a random timing basis. This method was carried over to the electromechanical machines of the 1960""s as the basic stopping of the reels was by timewise releasing an index pin into grooves in index wheels attached to the reels with indicia displaying the game result. These varying depth grooves enabled, via physical contact closures of wipers being a part of the index arm mechanism and physical wiring to relay logic, payouts in accordance with the designed payout schedule which again was directly related to the probability of occurrence of the indiciaxe2x80x94symbolxe2x80x94displayed on the reel itself. Such machines are directly susceptible to wear and tear (including erroneous electrical paths due to dirt and coin dust in particular, in the wiper contact area) as well as intentional tampering by both the player and unethical operators and their employees in violation of the regulations required for randomly probabilistic payoff.
Now electromechanical gaming devices are employed with a plurality of reels rotatable about a common axis and set into rotation by the pulling of a lever, by depressing a button, or automatically when the maximum amount for wagers has been wagered. However, even in these relatively newer devices, an electronic random number generator of some type is energized which generates one number corresponding to each of the various positions at which the reels can be stopped. As the game is played, each reel is stopped in sequence with the other reels at a position corresponding to each subsequent number generated. The angular rotational positions of the reels are detected at all times and the brake is engaged when the reel position corresponds to the random number generated for that reel. The probability for paying off on a combination of indicia on presently used machines, as described above, is dependent on the number of reels, the number of different angular rotational positions at which the reels can be stopped, and the number of winning combinations of indicia. In other words, the lowest probability for payoff that can be offered on presently used machines are 1 to NR where N is the number of angular rotational positions on each reel and R is the number of reels. Thus, for a three reel machine having 20 stop or index positions on each reel, the lowest probability that can be offered is 1:203 or 1:8000. For a machine to be commercially viable, there is a limit on the largest amount that will be paid for any such single indicia combination.
The above reasoning explains why the slot machines which offer greatly increased payoffs are usually very large machines in terms of the number of reels and stop positions. The large machine provides the physical size to allow an increase in the number of reel stop positions as well as number of reels to increase the probability against payoff on any one position.
It should be noted that the market demands higher and higher payoffs to maintain and increase player appeal, yet the casino or operator must be assured that the probability of win and payout allows for a reasonable business profit. Generally the profit-hold objectives before taxes and operational costs that are deducted are in the range as low as 2.7% and generally up to 15%. Hence, the higher payoff for a winning indicia combination must be counterbalanced with a lower probability for the high win combination of indicia. The introduction of video slot machines and CPUs has enabled the use of random number generators in combination with the virtual reels used, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419. The full capacity of CPUs have not yet been used in the play of video wagering games or in combination with physical reel slot machines. The term xe2x80x9cphysical reel slot machinexe2x80x9d denotes the use of an actual physical reel with symbols, characters, or alphanumerics associated with the play of a wagering game.
Reel slot games or virtual reel slot games are provided with enhanced playing features by the use of novel formatting or display aspects on the reels or screen and sound system of the wagering apparatus. One aspect of visual enhancement of reels or virtual reels is the use of a border on the reels or virtual reels that simulates a thematic border around each frame or the majority of frames, particularly a border that emulates or duplicates the appearance of motion picture framing. An enhanced visual appearance is provided to each or certain frames in a reel or virtual reel by the use of a border on frames that has the appearance of the black edging (e.g., with sprocket holes, black sides, black spacing between frames, pictures in the frames, etc.). By providing frames with defined characters or symbols in the frames for winning outcomes, thematic changes may be made in the wagering apparatus by merely altering the specific thematic characters or symbols in the frames without the need of reprogramming the complere reel probabilities, appearance or the game. For example, a three reel (or three virtual reel) slot machine wagering game may be provided with a thematic format of the Three Stooges (with combinations of Curly, Larry, Moe, and Shemp), and the format may be changed to the Marx Brothers (with combinations of Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo) simply by replacing the images in the frames, along with other optional modifications of the imagery or audio displays associated with the game. Special sound effects may be provided with the feeding of different denominations of currency or wagers into the machine or the wagering of different values of individual game wagers, with different sounds for the feeding currency or the wagering of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 or more coins, tokens or units.
Another aspect of the present invention includes a method of playing a video wagering game in which there are two distinct video components to either a) at least two distinct games with different video formats played in sequence or b) a single, multi-event game with at least two different video formats, in which at least a portion of the awards or winnings from a first game or event may be or must be carried forward into the second game or the second event. The game includes at least a first and second wagering segment. For purposes of this disclosure, a xe2x80x9csegmentxe2x80x9d is a video wagering game which is capable of being played as a stand alone game (e.g., with a wager and possible outcomes which include the loss of all or a part of a wager, return of an amount equal to the wager, or an award of an amount greater than the initial wager). In the practice of the present invention, at least two of these segments are associated in an order (which order may be consistent or variable over continued play of the game, that is, given segments A, B, C and D, the segments may be played in any order in consecutive games, such as A, B, C and D; B, C, D and A, C, B, A and D; D, A, C and B, etc.). For example, either the player or the video gaming apparatus may select an order of games of poker, dominoes and blackjack; blackjack, dominoes and poker; or dominoes, poker and blackjack.
The method comprises the steps of placing a wager to participate in a video wagering game, playing a first segment of the video wagering game, and continuing to play the first segment of the video wagering game until at least one predetermined condition has been met and for which predetermined condition an award is made to the player. Preferably, there may be more than one predetermined condition which enables the player to advance from the first segment of the video wagering game to another segment. The predetermined outcomes may include, for example, achieving a predetermined number of winning outcomes or achieving one of a specific or general group of winning outcomes. The term xe2x80x9cpredeterminedxe2x80x9d in the practice of the present invention does not, as previously understood in the art, limit the outcome to earlier identified item specific outcomes. That is, in the prior art, the term xe2x80x9cpredetermined outcomexe2x80x9d would earlier identify hand distributions that would mean, in poker for example, a particular type of playing hand such as a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, etc.
In the play of the generally preferred aspects of the invention, again using the film strip format of the Three Stooges as an example, play could include the three or more reels (virtual or physical) with possible winning combinations of images including images including pictures or caricatures of individual or collective Stooges, as well as other numbers, symbols or characters that can be combined to provide winning combinations, but not necessarily bonus or jackpot combinations. It would also be desirable to identify the special xe2x80x9cbonusxe2x80x9d feature characters, as by including a bar with the figures that says xe2x80x9cbonusxe2x80x9d or some other special identifier (including sounds as later described). Alternatively, the second game segment could be activated by a game symbol or game outcome which is not a part of or is not a winning outcome. A plasma screen, independent of single video apparatus at each player""s position, but associated with a bank of individual video apparatus, could be used to show the play of the bonus feature.
One condition that may be imposed, and would usually be imposed, for playing the second segment is to have a winning outcome and an associated payout assigned for the first segment at the time or before the time when the second segment is played. In one example of the invention, once the predetermined condition or conditions have been met, the player must play the second segment of the wagering game using at least a portion of the payout as a wager in the second segment. The second segment may even constitute a separate game which requires a separate wager. This is substantively different from games such as Double-Down Stud following draw poker where the player has an absolute right of election to play the Double-Down Stud game, either none of the winnings or all of the winnings are usually required, and the screen format remains the same. The second segment in the present invention may even constitute a game which allows the second wager to be completely lost, places only a portion of the wager at risk, or guarantees at least a return of the wager on the second segment, with a possibility of an increased award (by addition or multiplication of the award achieved on the play of the first segment wager game). In another example of the present invention, a player can optionally choose to participate in the second segment of the game, and is required to put all or part of an award earned in the first segment at risk. Every outcome of the second segment may have a factor associated with it which enhances the payout of the first segment, e.g., by multiplying the original payout by the factor. According to one method of practice of the present invention, the minimum factor in the second segment could be one. The player in that instance is therefore guaranteed a payout at least as great as the original payout, and hence does not risk the payout awarded in the first segment by playing the second segment of the game. Additionally, one or several predetermined outcomes of the second segment may be assigned fixed or progressive jackpots, yielding even larger winnings for the player.